A study by the Joint Research Center (JRC) has concluded that oregano is the spice that is the most vulnerable to fraudulent practices in the European Union, revealing that 48% of the oregano samples analyzed in their research were adulterated, especially with olive leaves. It was followed by pepper, with 17% of samples suspected of adulteration, cumin (14%), turmeric (11%), and saffron (11%).
Sources from the European Commission stated that the laboratory analyses carried out in this study are part of a coordinated control plan in the EU to establish the prevalence of fraudulent practices in the herbs and spices market. A total of 21 EU member countries, Norway, and Switzerland provided samples of a group of herbs and spices that are often subject to manipulation.
According to the JRC, there were suspicions of fraud in 17% of the 1,885 samples analyzed, a lower rate than in other scientific investigations. Most of the suspicious samples contained undeclared plant material and unauthorized dyes were detected in 2% of them.
Available information shows that adulterated herbs and spices are present on the Community market, but are not detected.
The study authors caution that the number of samples obtained at certain stages, such as local markets, border control, and the internet, was too low to make statistically significant comparisons.
Europe is one of the main importing regions of herbs and spices, with approximately 300,000 tons, most of them coming from East Asia. Many spices are produced in countries that carry out different processes to the product, such as drying or cleaning processes, before sending it to the destination countries, where they are re-disinfected before being packaged and distributed in the market.
The researchers warned that, at each stage, there can be fraudulent manipulations and that the possibility of fraud increases the more often the material is transferred from one operator to another in the chain.
Source: efeagro.com